“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” (Ephesians 2:8 NLT)
If you read yesterday’s Post, you may still be asking, “What does this have to do with the benefits of longing for Jesus, of being generous?” And my answer would have to be – it doesn’t, unless and until we understand that nothing we can experience with our five physical senses; nothing we can see, feel, taste, touch or hear is eternal. It simply won’t last. So, what? If it doesn’t last it has little or no eternal value, except to the extent it’s used for eternal purpose. What does that mean? It means selling myself to gain the pleasures of this world will end in death, eternal separation from the only Person who can satisfy the longings of my heart.
It means, as Jesus followers, when our hearts are tuned to the heartbeat of God, we want what He wants. We long for everyone we love to share the joy of our much anticipated eternal home in heaven. It means nothing on this earth has value to us unless it contributes to the mission of taking as many people to heaven with us as possible. So, we learn to use the “currency” of heaven. What’s that? Generosity, prompted and motivated by our love for and devotion to our Savior.
There are three “G” words that are inextricably interwoven, that when understood lead to the virtually unlimited benefits of living a life devoted to giving of ourselves and of our resources. Those words are GRACE, GRATITUDE and GENEROSITY.
Grace is the free, undeserved, unearned, and unmerited favor of God. God’s love is a grace-gift. There’s nothing we can do to make God love us more and there’s nothing we can do to make God love us less. Then why do we serve, give, submit to His authority and obey His commandments? Shouldn’t we be trying to earn His love? No. No can do! He loves us, period. Then why? Gratitude!
Our lives, as followers of the Lord Jesus, should be living testaments of what gratitude looks like. Consider this:
- The sum total of all this world has to offer doesn’t compare to the value of my soul
- Jesus willingly laid down His life in my place to pay the penalty for my sin
- Jesus’ sacrifice opens the door to the deliverance of my soul from Satan’s captivity
- Which results in my eternal freedom to begin my journey of becoming all God created me to become in Him – a life of meaning, fulfillment and purpose
- In light of the above, how can I possibly live my life without being grateful to God?
So, what might living a life of grace-filled gratitude look like? GENEROSITY!
We’ll look at that more closely tomorrow.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 